"I swear it," said Don Quixote, "and for greater security I will puta flag-stone over it; for I would have you know, Senor Don Antonio"(he had by this time learned his name), "that you are addressing onewho, though he has ears to hear, has no tongue to speak; so that youmay safely transfer whatever you have in your bosom into mine, andrely upon it that you have consigned it to the depths of silence."

"In reliance upon that promise," said Don Antonio, "I willastonish you with what you shall see and hear, and relieve myself ofsome of the vexation it gives me to have no one to whom I canconfide my secrets, for they are not of a sort to be entrusted toeverybody."

Don Quixote was puzzled, wondering what could be the object ofsuch precautions; whereupon Don Antonio taking his hand passed it overthe bronze head and the whole table and the pedestal of jasper onwhich it stood, and then said, "This head, Senor Don Quixote, has beenmade and fabricated by one of the greatest magicians and wizards theworld ever saw, a Pole, I believe, by birth, and a pupil of the famousEscotillo of whom such marvellous stories are told. He was here inmy house, and for a consideration of a thousand crowns that I gave himhe constructed this head, which has the property and virtue ofanswering whatever questions are put to its ear. He observed thepoints of the compass, he traced figures, he studied the stars, hewatched favourable moments, and at length brought it to the perfectionwe shall see to-morrow, for on Fridays it is mute, and this beingFriday we must wait till the next day. In the interval your worshipmay consider what you would like to ask it; and I know by experiencethat in all its answers it tells the truth."

Don Quixote was amazed at the virtue and property of the head, andwas inclined to disbelieve Don Antonio; but seeing what a short timehe had to wait to test the matter, he did not choose to say anythingexcept that he thanked him for having revealed to him so mighty asecret. They then quitted the room, Don Antonio locked the door, andthey repaired to the chamber where the rest of the gentlemen wereassembled. In the meantime Sancho had recounted to them several of theadventures and accidents that had happened his master.

That afternoon they took Don Quixote out for a stroll, not in hisarmour but in street costume, with a surcoat of tawny cloth uponhim, that at that season would have made ice itself sweat. Orders wereleft with the servants to entertain Sancho so as not to let himleave the house. Don Quixote was mounted, not on Rocinante, but upon atall mule of easy pace and handsomely caparisoned. They put thesurcoat on him, and on the back, without his perceiving it, theystitched a parchment on which they wrote in large letters, "This isDon Quixote of La Mancha." As they set out upon their excursion theplacard attracted the eyes of all who chanced to see him, and asthey read out, "This is Don Quixote of La Mancha," Don Quixote wasamazed to see how many people gazed at him, called him by his name,and recognised him, and turning to Don Antonio, who rode at hisside, he observed to him, "Great are the privileges knight-errantryinvolves, for it makes him who professes it known and famous inevery region of the earth; see, Don Antonio, even the very boys ofthis city know me without ever having seen me."

"True, Senor Don Quixote," returned Don Antonio; "for as fire cannotbe hidden or kept secret, virtue cannot escape being recognised; andthat which is attained by the profession of arms shinesdistinguished above all others."

It came to pass, however, that as Don Quixote was proceeding amidthe acclamations that have been described, a Castilian, reading theinscription on his back, cried out in a loud voice, "The devil takethee for a Don Quixote of La Mancha! What! art thou here, and not deadof the countless drubbings that have fallen on thy ribs? Thou art mad;and if thou wert so by thyself, and kept thyself within thy madness,it would not be so bad; but thou hast the gift of making fools andblockheads of all who have anything to do with thee or say to thee.Why, look at these gentlemen bearing thee company! Get thee home,blockhead, and see after thy affairs, and thy wife and children, andgive over these fooleries that are sapping thy brains and skimmingaway thy wits."

"Go your own way, brother," said Don Antonio, "and don't offeradvice to those who don't ask you for it. Senor Don Quixote is inhis full senses, and we who bear him company are not fools; virtueis to be honoured wherever it may be found; go, and bad luck to you,and don't meddle where you are not wanted."

"By God, your worship is right," replied the Castilian; "for toadvise this good man is to kick against the pricks; still for all thatit fills me with pity that the sound wit they say the blockhead has ineverything should dribble away by the channel of hisknight-errantry; but may the bad luck your worship talks of followme and all my descendants, if, from this day forth, though I shouldlive longer than Methuselah, I ever give advice to anybody even ifhe asks me for it."

The advice-giver took himself off, and they continued theirstroll; but so great was the press of the boys and people to readthe placard, that Don Antonio was forced to remove it as if he weretaking off something else.

Night came and they went home, and there was a ladies' dancingparty, for Don Antonio's wife, a lady of rank and gaiety, beauty andwit, had invited some friends of hers to come and do honour to herguest and amuse themselves with his strange delusions. Several of themcame, they supped sumptuously, the dance began at about ten o'clock.Among the ladies were two of a mischievous and frolicsome turn, and,though perfectly modest, somewhat free in playing tricks forharmless diversion sake. These two were so indefatigable in taking DonQuixote out to dance that they tired him down, not only in body but inspirit. It was a sight to see the figure Don Quixote made, long, lank,lean, and yellow, his garments clinging tight to him, ungainly, andabove all anything but agile. The gay ladies made secret love tohim, and he on his part secretly repelled them, but finding himselfhard pressed by their blandishments he lifted up his voice andexclaimed, "Fugite, partes adversae! Leave me in peace, unwelcomeovertures; avaunt, with your desires, ladies, for she who is queenof mine, the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, suffers none but hers tolead me captive and subdue me;" and so saying he sat down on the floorin the middle of the room, tired out and broken down by all thisexertion in the dance.

Don Antonio directed him to be taken up bodily and carried to bed,and the first that laid hold of him was Sancho, saying as he did so,"In an evil hour you took to dancing, master mine; do you fancy allmighty men of valour are dancers, and all knights-errant given tocapering? If you do, I can tell you you are mistaken; there's many aman would rather undertake to kill a giant than cut a caper. If it hadbeen the shoe-fling you were at I could take your place, for I cando the shoe-fling like a gerfalcon; but I'm no good at dancing."

With these and other observations Sancho set the whole ball-roomlaughing, and then put his master to bed, covering him up well so thathe might sweat out any chill caught after his dancing.

The next day Don Antonio thought he might as well make trial ofthe enchanted head, and with Don Quixote, Sancho, and two others,friends of his, besides the two ladies that had tired out DonQuixote at the ball, who had remained for the night with Don Antonio'swife, he locked himself up in the chamber where the head was. Heexplained to them the property it possessed and entrusted the secretto them, telling them that now for the first time he was going totry the virtue of the enchanted head; but except Don Antonio's twofriends no one else was privy to the mystery of the enchantment, andif Don Antonio had not first revealed it to them they would havebeen inevitably reduced to the same state of amazement as the rest, soartfully and skilfully was it contrived.

The first to approach the ear of the head was Don Antonio himself,and in a low voice but not so low as not to be audible to all, he saidto it, "Head, tell me by the virtue that lies in thee what am I atthis moment thinking of?"

The head, without any movement of the lips, answered in a clearand distinct voice, so as to be heard by all, "I cannot judge ofthoughts."

All were thunderstruck at this, and all the more so as they saw thatthere was nobody anywhere near the table or in the whole room thatcould have answered. "How many of us are here?" asked Don Antonio oncemore; and it was answered him in the same way softly, "Thou and thywife, with two friends of thine and two of hers, and a famous knightcalled Don Quixote of La Mancha, and a squire of his, Sancho Panzaby name."

Now there was fresh astonishment; now everyone's hair was standingon end with awe; and Don Antonio retiring from the head exclaimed,"This suffices to show me that I have not been deceived by him whosold thee to me, O sage head, talking head, answering head,wonderful head! Let some one else go and put what question he likes toit."

And as women are commonly impulsive and inquisitive, the first tocome forward was one of the two friends of Don Antonio's wife, and herquestion was, "Tell me, Head, what shall I do to be very beautiful?"and the answer she got was, "Be very modest."

"I question thee no further," said the fair querist.

Her companion then came up and said, "I should like to know, Head,whether my husband loves me or not;" the answer given to her was,"Think how he uses thee, and thou mayest guess;" and the marriedlady went off saying, "That answer did not need a question; for ofcourse the treatment one receives shows the disposition of him fromwhom it is received."

Then one of Don Antonio's two friends advanced and asked it, "Who amI?" "Thou knowest," was the answer. "That is not what I ask thee,"said the gentleman, "but to tell me if thou knowest me." "Yes, Iknow thee, thou art Don Pedro Noriz," was the reply.

"I do not seek to know more," said the gentleman, "for this isenough to convince me, O Head, that thou knowest everything;" and ashe retired the other friend came forward and asked it, "Tell me, Head,what are the wishes of my eldest son?"

"I have said already," was the answer, "that I cannot judge ofwishes; however, I can tell thee the wish of thy son is to bury thee."

"That's 'what I see with my eyes I point out with my finger,'"said the gentleman, "so I ask no more."

Don Antonio's wife came up and said, "I know not what to ask thee,Head; I would only seek to know of thee if I shall have many yearsof enjoyment of my good husband;" and the answer she received was,"Thou shalt, for his vigour and his temperate habits promise manyyears of life, which by their intemperance others so often cut short."

Then Don Quixote came forward and said, "Tell me, thou thatanswerest, was that which I describe as having happened to me in thecave of Montesinos the truth or a dream? Will Sancho's whipping beaccomplished without fail? Will the disenchantment of Dulcinea bebrought about?"

"As to the question of the cave," was the reply, "there is much tobe said; there is something of both in it. Sancho's whipping willproceed leisurely. The disenchantment of Dulcinea will attain itsdue consummation."

"I seek to know no more," said Don Quixote; "let me but see Dulcineadisenchanted, and I will consider that all the good fortune I couldwish for has come upon me all at once."

The last questioner was Sancho, and his questions were, "Head, shallI by any chance have another government? Shall I ever escape fromthe hard life of a squire? Shall I get back to see my wife andchildren?" To which the answer came, "Thou shalt govern in thyhouse; and if thou returnest to it thou shalt see thy wife andchildren; and on ceasing to serve thou shalt cease to be a squire."

"Good, by God!" said Sancho Panza; "I could have told myself that;the prophet Perogrullo could have said no more."

"What answer wouldst thou have, beast?" said Don Quixote; "is it notenough that the replies this head has given suit the questions putto it?"

"Yes, it is enough," said Sancho; "but I should have liked it tohave made itself plainer and told me more."

The questions and answers came to an end here, but not the wonderwith which all were filled, except Don Antonio's two friends whowere in the secret. This Cide Hamete Benengeli thought fit to revealat once, not to keep the world in suspense, fancying that the head hadsome strange magical mystery in it. He says, therefore, that on themodel of another head, the work of an image maker, which he had seenat Madrid, Don Antonio made this one at home for his own amusement andto astonish ignorant people; and its mechanism was as follows. Thetable was of wood painted and varnished to imitate jasper, and thepedestal on which it stood was of the same material, with four eagles'claws projecting from it to support the weight more steadily. Thehead, which resembled a bust or figure of a Roman emperor, and wascoloured like bronze, was hollow throughout, as was the table, intowhich it was fitted so exactly that no trace of the joining wasvisible. The pedestal of the table was also hollow and communicatedwith the throat and neck of the head, and the whole was incommunication with another room underneath the chamber in which thehead stood. Through the entire cavity in the pedestal, table, throatand neck of the bust or figure, there passed a tube of tin carefullyadjusted and concealed from sight. In the room below correspondingto the one above was placed the person who was to answer, with hismouth to the tube, and the voice, as in an ear-trumpet, passed fromabove downwards, and from below upwards, the words coming clearlyand distinctly; it was impossible, thus, to detect the trick. A nephewof Don Antonio's, a smart sharp-witted student, was the answerer,and as he had been told beforehand by his uncle who the persons werethat would come with him that day into the chamber where the head was,it was an easy matter for him to answer the first question at once andcorrectly; the others he answered by guess-work, and, being clever,cleverly. Cide Hamete adds that this marvellous contrivance stoodfor some ten or twelve days; but that, as it became noised abroadthrough the city that he had in his house an enchanted head thatanswered all who asked questions of it, Don Antonio, fearing itmight come to the ears of the watchful sentinels of our faith,explained the matter to the inquisitors, who commanded him to break itup and have done with it, lest the ignorant vulgar should bescandalised. By Don Quixote, however, and by Sancho the head was stillheld to be an enchanted one, and capable of answering questions,though more to Don Quixote's satisfaction than Sancho's.

Title: Don Quixote
Author: Miqeul de Cervantes
Viewed 406983 times

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